Welcome back to Top Shelf Hockey Prospects, the daily column that brings you the next crop of professional hockey players. Each day I will bring you a new player profile or topical article in the lead-up to the 2017 NHL Draft. Be sure to bookmark the site, follow me on Twitter, and spread the word for the site that will bring you analytical and critical profiles and scouting reports! Last Word On Hockey Prospects is your new headquarters for everything “NHL Draft”! We have a complete listing of our draft articles here.
Today we bring you a draft prospect who is getting a ton of buzz across the internet and seems to be a favorite of various scouting services, Alexandre Texier. Texier played in the French League, and represented his country in junior tournaments, but at the second-tier level. As a result, we have not seen any game footage of Texier, and are not ranking him.
However, because we strive to bring you the reader full draft coverage, we are going to quote what other sources have said about him and direct you to more quality pieces on Texier. In this way you can trust that we will always bring you the straight goods (as we see them) on any prospect we cover, but will also strive to not leave our readers completely out of the loop when it comes to high ranking NHL Prospects. For this reason Texier is an honourable mentions (not ranked by us, but by who is getting 2nd/3rd round draft buzz that we’ve noticed).
Alexandre Texier 2017 NHL Draft Honorable Mention
Center — shoots Left
Born September 13th, 1999 — Grenoble, France
Height 6’0″ — Weight 187 lbs [183 cm / 85 kg]
Texier played in Frances top Men’s league with 19 points in 40 games, as well as 10 points 12 playoff games. He put up five points in five games at the Under 18 D-1A tournament, and eight points in five games at the Under 20 D-1A tournament.
TSN- Bob Mckenzie’s Rank = 55
Craig Button’s Analysis: “Skills are very good. Skates well, handles puck well and good sense. Very good upside.”
Projection: Top 6 skilled centre
Comparable: Carl Soderberg
Future Considerations Ranked Texier at 211
“Texier is a highly skilled player who can move past opponents with quick dekes. He can stick handle in tight spaces thanks to his quick, creative hands. His overall puck control is excellent; he has very soft hands that let him receive passes without the puck bouncing which allows him to quickly make plays when he gets the puck.”
McKeen’s Ranked 92
“A rare France-Based prospect, Texier earned notice due to lightning speed and special puck skills. His league makes him an unknown, but it is always worthwhile to gamble on high-end potential and Texier has it.”
The Draft Analyst – Ten Prospects to Know
“A lightning quick French teen who plays significant minutes in the French senior league, Texier is a dynamic offensive talent who is mature and can handle playing against older competition. You have to go back to the late 1980’s and former St. Louis Blues prospect Philippe Bozon to find a teenager from the French league with this kind of NHL potential. Texier is an excellent skater who can handle the puck and make plays off the rush. Rarely does he look overmatched despite being the youngest player in the circuit, and he recently finished as one of the top scorers (1g, 7a) at the recent Division IA under-20 WJC.”
Draft Site – Ranked 56th
“French born centreman who was France’s best player in the Division One World Juniors despite being the team’s youngest member. Displayed excellent poise, vision, and hockey sense to go with his heavy accurate shot, crisp passes, and a high tempo motor. Has a bow-legged stride, but is well-balanced and is light in his edging and a threat to score with each shift. Played on France’s top line and ran the power play from the half wall. Looks like Philippe Bozon may have a successor. ”
ISS Hockey – Draft Sleeper, Rank 101
“Attracting a lot of attention from NHL scouts despite playing in France for Grenoble Les Bruleurs de Loup. Displays good size and strength. Skates well, with a good stride and nice edge control. A guy with great upside and lots of development potential. It will be interesting to see where he will continue his career.”
HockeyProspect.com – Ranking 57
“Texier has excellent skating fundamentals. He is able to generate speed through cross-overs effectively and is consistently moving his feet, which allows him to generate separation from defenders. When he receives the puck on either wall, he has a great habit of opening up to the play, which gives his defenseman an easy target to pass to, and allows him to use his quick cross-overs to generate speed and get a head start up ice.”
These are just samples, for full profiles on the player and many more, please support the scouting services and buy their guides.
Highlights
The following is a compilation of highlights, assembled from Youtube.
Check back tomorrow for the next prospect on our draft board.
Main Photo via Twitter
